’Hawks on wrong end of upset this time around

After knocking off the No. 1, Skyhawks defeated by Regis

From an inspiring victory to a most improbable and inexplicable defeat.

The 17th-ranked Fort Lewis College mens basketball team hung for a few seconds at the top of the emotional rollercoaster Friday after beating No. 1 Metro State. But the Skyhawks crashed Saturday, as Regis took the air out of Whalen Gymnasium and out of FLC with an 80-77 upset of the Skyhawks.

Its the old Wide World of Sports (tagline), the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat, FLC head coach Bob Hofman said. It definitely stings, but you have to move on and learn from it.

Down the stretch, the Rangers (8-15, 7-13 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) seemed to have an answer for every FLC rally attempt, holding the Skyhawks at arms length until Fort Lewis finally broke through, using a 7-0 run to tie the score at 74 with 1 minute, 30 seconds to play in regulation.

But Dylan King, who scored 20 points, connected on a four-point play with 56 seconds to go, draining a 3-pointer as he was fouled by FLCs Jared Smith, and he buried the free throw to put Regis up 78-74.

Alex Herrera, who led all scorers by using a noticeable size advantage to score a career-high 26 points, had a dunk to cut the lead to 78-76, then had a rare steal near midcourt and was fouled from behind on the fast break with 9.2 seconds remaining, one the FLC bench thought shouldve been called an intentional foul but wasnt. He made just one of two free throw attempts.

Yes, I did (think it was intentional) because he played it from behind, and I thought thats a pretty automatic call, Hofman said. But thats the judgment, and you have to live with it.

Kevin Marshall capped his 20-point effort with two free throws with 7.7 seconds to go, and FLCs Marcus Ayala missed a potential game-tying 3 in the waning seconds as the Rangers sealed an unlikely road upset.

Regis did what Metro State couldnt by repeatedly getting into the paint. As a result, they hit 24 of 30 free throw attempts to just 8 of 12 for FLC (18-5, 15-5 RMAC). The penetration drew Herrera, a shot blocker, away from the rim, allowing them offensive rebound opportunities.

I thought mainly it was Alex would come over to help because they were able to penetrate, and when Alex came over to help, it opened up a hole on the weak side, and we didnt cover down as well as we need to, Hofman said.

FLC played without Nick Tomsick, who battled a flu bug earlier in the week.

Regis, which Hofman said was stuck on Wolf Creek Pass and didnt get in until 7 a.m. Saturday, shot 48 percent from the field and hit 8 of 15 3s.

Give them credit. They made huge shots after running the shot clock down under 10, Hofman said.